School bus lands in ditch near Howley Junction

A school bus with students on board left the TCH about a kilometre from Howley Junction on Thursday morning. (CBC)

Snowy conditions on Newfoundland's west coast Thursday morning forced a school bus with students onboard off the Trans-Canada Highway and into a ditch.

The incident happened on a stretch of highway about a kilometre east of Howley Junction, as students were being driven to school in Deer Lake.

Norma Power said her children were on the bus, when she received a call from her daughter shortly after 8 a.m.

"The bus driver apparently had pulled over to get some ice off the windshield, and as she stood up, the bus started to slide and she knew she was going to hit the snowbank. It didn't tip over — but if it wasn't for the snowbank it would have," Power said.

The Newfoundland and Labrador English School District said parents and guardians were informed, and the students were transferred to another bus and taken home. A board spokesperson said no one was injured.

Power has questioned why the driver was allowed to pick up the students in poor driving conditions.